Floods caused by heavy rain will continue to affect large parts of Flanders (Belgium) on Wednesday and Thursday. A disaster plan has been in place in East Flanders since Wednesday and additional dams are being built or are being built. In West Flanders, the regional disaster plan came into force a week ago. Volunteers help the fire brigade and the army place sandbags.
Westhoek in West Flanders had a tough time yesterday, but the misery is far from over. The heavy rains that fell on Wednesday were similar to those witnessed in previous days. This leads to a rise in water levels, causing many problems in the area.
Video: Residents of 25 homes along the Ijzier River are forced to leave because their homes will surely flood:
Meanwhile, the Antwerp Fire Brigade’s surface rescue team is assisting with evacuations in the area. The helpline is now activated for non-emergency assistance in case of floods. Heavy rain will fall again on Thursday in our southern neighbours, especially in West Flanders: locally more than 25 mm could fall within 24 hours. The Royal Meteorological Institute has therefore declared a code yellow for that province, just as in Namur, Hainaut and Luxembourg.
In the West Flemish Women’s District, near Dixmued, residents of 25 houses are being evacuated preventively. This is what the Westhoek Fire Department reported.
Westhoek Fire Department
@Brw_Westhoek
On Tuesday, Ishtaghim was also not spared from the floods resulting from the continuous rainfall in many places in that governorate. All streets were reopened to traffic on Wednesday morning, but the municipality remains vigilant. “We had a meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss how to reorganize ourselves because more rain is expected in the following days. Today it should remain dry. So we will look at whether it is necessary to buy additional sandbags. We want to prepare ourselves as best as we can for what is coming.”
In Morselle, some streets and walking paths are closed. De Waterlelie Primary School will also remain closed until at least the weekend.
Residents of the regions stood with their feet in the water in Sint-Elois-Winkel. “The solidarity is heartening, but we are all in the same boat,” he said. “We demand structural measures that make such a deluge impossible, or at least seriously limit it.” In Tom and Ona, the water reached 1.30 metres.
East Flanders
After West Flanders, East Flanders is also preparing for additional flooding in the coming days. Governor Karina Van Cauter called all the mayors together for a meeting.
A report is being prepared in Livgem containing all the bottlenecks caused by the floods in recent days. The Roncelli area in particular was hit hard this time. “Fortunately, homes and people were saved, and streets and lawns were flooded,” says Mayor Kim Martens (CD&V). “In cooperation with the police, firefighters and municipal services, we are now planning everything. We will see if we can avoid such situations in the future.
It is not clear for how long, but the water that flooded the station’s pedestrian tunnel in Dendermond for the umpteenth time on Tuesday has disappeared again. Many are eagerly awaiting the coming rains.
The floods in Aalst are not over yet. In the Herdersheim district, eighteen children cannot go to nursery at the moment. The floods in Zulte are not over yet. To keep Tuesday’s heavy rainfall under control, the Staatsbaan in Zulte will be partially closed to traffic until at least Wednesday evening.
In Crozem, the municipality is trying to prepare as much as possible for the rainfall that is still expected.
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